


Screenshot Tales Of A Bastard Warden And His Thorned Rose In Leather Armor

by andrasteshaircurlers



Category: Dragon Age, Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-06-07 10:43:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6800506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andrasteshaircurlers/pseuds/andrasteshaircurlers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Little stories with screenshots, A strong emphasis on Alistair and cocky little adrenaline junky, Torania Cousland Theirin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meetings

 

“You know” He drawls turning to look at her. “One good thing about the blight is how it brings people together.”

The laughter bubbles up from her gut, She can feel it like a sliver of light in her heart where she had thought there was only grief and darkness.

Torania Cousland falls to her knees. Her hands grasping at her mouth as if to catch the sound coming out of it and hold it close. She looks at him with wide eyes. 

And she laughs. She just laughs. Not giggle, not a single smile since leaving Highever. Nothing. Mirth got left back there with the bodies she thought. The capacity to give something like a laugh gone with her parents lives.

But Torania is laughing. She looks up at the man who made it happen. He looks slightly freaked out.  _Well you did just fall in front of the man laughing hysterically, like you had lost your mind_. She thinks to herself. .

“S-sorry, what?” She manages to stammer as she gets to her feet.

“Oh, nothing. Just trying to find a bright side to all this.” He watches her still slightly concerned. “Wait, we haven’t met, have we? I don’t suppose you happen to be another mage?”

“Would that make your day worse?” Torania challenges, trying to get back to her normal self.

“Hardly. I just like to know my chances of being turned into a toad at any given moment.” He answers.

She feels herself grinning again. The smile forms on her face just before she manages to cover it with her hand.

“Wait I  _do_  know who you are. You are Duncan’s new recruit. From Highever.”

“Torania.” She tells him. “My name is Torania. Torania Cousland.”


	2. Insecurity

 

Alistair comes walking over to her in camp. She can hear him as he approaches. He is not exactly subtle. 

Her fellow warden sits down next to her on the log. She ignores him. The painful clenched knot in her chest feels less hard that way. 

All Torania wants to do is sob. She had thought she had lost everything when she left Castle Cousland in flames behind her. She had been wrong. He had made her laugh. There was hope. Then he had took it from her. The last bit of consistency she could count on. Skill in combat.

“We have to talk” He began.

She made a “mmm” Sound.

“I thought we were getting along well for a bit”

She won’t look at him. She can’t look at him.

“But now, Now we are like this. I’ve tried and tried to figure it out but I can’t think why. Did I do something wrong? If we have to hate each other I’d like to know why.”

She’s wanted to tell someone, She’s wanted to say something ever since it happened. She’s felt trapped. Like she had to hold it in. 

She’s wanted to tell someone share her hurt. But the person being him….

“You. Saved. Me.” She forces out through gritted teeth.

She remembers it perfectly. The ogre was near falling, on it’s last reserves of strength. She had been about to move into finish it and somehow, somehow, it had grabbed her.

She remembers seeing his desperate shield bash. If that had worked it would have dropped her and they could have finished it together.

But it didn’t work. And the monster had been killing her.

She remembers her ribs creaking, as it squeezed her. Her vision growing dim. And then she had been dropped and staring up she had seen why. Alistair had jumped onto the ogre. Alistair in a spectacular move had slayed it stabbing it until it released her.

_She was weak._

Alistair blinked at her now.

“You wanted to…? You know you fight well for a woman with a death wish.”

Torania clenched her fists. “You don’t understand I should have killed it! I should have been on my feet to help at the very least.”

“So you are mad at me… because I was the one who saved your life? I would offer to not do much of that anymore but seeing as you are the only other Fereldan warden I know of I’m afraid I can’t make any promises. If we survive this whole thing I can let you get yourself killed if you want.” His tone was dry.

“I won’t! I’m strong!” Torania felt slightly hysterical.

He scooted away from her crossing his arms over his legs. “Oh pardon me oh strong mighty fighty woman!”

Torania let out a harsh cry of frustration and pain.

“You don’t understand!” 

Suddenly she was sobbing. 

“I was weak I can’t be weak!” Desperately she tried to wipe away her tears but they just kept coming.

He had seen them, the tears. there was no way around it so she turned and glared at him.

But the look in the man’s eyes was not one of anger, frustration, or even dislike. What she saw When she looked into Alistair’s eyes right then was something entirely different. Dawning understanding, Compassion.

“You’re not weak. You’ve never been weak not since the day I met you. Tori… Can I call you Tori?” He didn’t wait for a reply. 

“You’ve saved me several times already. I was just returning the favor!” 

He paused staring forward the light of the campfire highlighting the curve of his nose.  “Besides we killed that thing together. I just got in the last blow I supose. I’ve seen you fight. I would never call you weak. I suspect the darkspawn would not call you weak either. Well, if they could talk and you had not brutally slaughtered them.”

He turned to her a slow inviting smile starting to cross his face.

“And I’m not just saying this because I need someone to laugh at my bad jokes again… I mean, I really do need someone to laugh at them again. The best I’ve gotten is a snort of contempt from Morrigan,” Alistair shook his head slightly “at least I think it was a snort of contempt. It could have been derision, or disdain, or any other of those wonderful words that mean Alistair I don’t like you.”

The Knot inside her chest was coming undone. Torania felt herself start to smile slightly. He had that effect on her. Perhaps he was right. He had fallen too afterall. And she had managed to stun the ogre to save him once early in the fight.

“Well we can’t have no one laughing at your jokes.” She spoke, “But Alistair?”

“Mmmm?”

“Next ogre is _MINE_ ”

 

 


	3. Handheld

 

 

“It’s up here” Torania cousland beckoned impatiently to the man behind her. Alistair was being slow. Which might have something to do with the fact that it was the middle of the night, but all the same her fellow warden could usually see in the dark better than she could.

Alistair groaned rolling his shoulders. “Where are you taking me woman? It’s the middle of the night. I need my beauty sleep, you don’t want me to be all grumpy do you?”

“This is Important. Trust me.” She rushed ahead up the hill confident that he would follow. He did. 

She had found the place by accident really, standing watch for the night. The high rise above their current camp. Perfect for mounting an ambush, but perfect for something else as well.

“You know… if you were wanting to show me a nice view…” Alistair gazed over the lights of the campside below them as they stood on the outcrop. “You might have picked somewhere other than camp.”

She reached for him ignoring him as he stiffened and placed two fingers under his chin pushing upwards. Was that triumph she was feeling in her gut and in the tingling of her fingers? 

Of course it was. She was right wasn’t she?

“Ohhhh” Alistair gazed upwards. “O _oooooh_ ”

Santalina was particularly close tonight, whatever of the effect of that could not be felt from the ground could certainly be felt from this outcropping. It looked like the moon might swallow the sky whole above their heads.

Torania watched Alistair, his eyes wide with boyish wonder, his mouth hanging slightly open… Watched the moonlight reflect off his body. He really did have nice muscles.  

The female warden smiled. There was a type of joy bubbling up inside her. The joy she had come to realise was associated with him.  Alistair being Alistair. Her soul was singing. And then for the first time in her life, Torania’s body failed her. 

The female warden’s legs gave out. She landed on the ground with a thump and quickly acted as though she had meant to sit down. As Alistair sat down beside her she gave him a smile. “Worth waking you up eh?”

“Alright woman rub it in. Rub it in,” She could see him trying not to grin. Trying to act the part.

She shook her head. “That’s not good enough I want full permission to wake you up any time I want.”

“Wahhh! Anytime!?”

“For any reason” She added.

“You’re doing this while I’m under the influence of the moon on purpose aren’t you… did you plan this crafy woman?”

Torania shook her head, turning to stare at the glowing orb above them. “No actually this is just me improvising. I’m bloody good at it you know”

She heard a long, overly exaggerated sigh from beside her. “Oh alright, You have my permission, Just so you know. You’re playing dirty.”

“Yes. Yes I know” She turned to grin at him.

“I can blame the moon for this right?”

Torania nodded at him basking in her victory.

“Then… Perhaps I can blame the moon for this too”

For a moment she wanted to ask him what he meant and then she felt the hand on hers. 

Torania looked down at their interlaced fingers and them  up into his wide earnest eyes. Searching. Ever searching her own.

He was waiting to see if he had done somthing wrong. She opened her mouth to try to reassure him only to realize she had actually stopped breathing.

The result was a coughing fit that left him more than a little alarmed  But even as she tried to catch her breath she made sure of one thing.

Alistair’s hand never left her own.


End file.
